Air-brake



No Model.)

' A. J. WISNER.

AIR BRAKE.

No. 446,908. v Patented Feb. 24,1891.

WITNE'ssf-:s: lNVENTOR:

,3, a detached vertical sectional view ot the UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.'

ANDRFV J. IVISNER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AIR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 446,908, datedFebruary 24, 1891.

Application led May 31,1890. Serial No. 353,728. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. WISNER., a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvementsin Air- Brakes, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the annexed drawings7 making parthereof.

In my present invention I use an engine and air-pump and anair-reservoir with a single compartment; but the nature of my inventionwill fully appear from the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view ofmy apparatus, some of the smaller parts being in elevation; Fig. 2, adetached horizontal sectional View of the engineers valve on line X X ofFig. l; Fig.

automatic regulator-valve; Fig. 4, a detached vertical sectional View ofthe exhaust-valve; Fig. 5, a detached broken sectional view of thebrake-cylinder, showing a valve in the piston-stem.

A A represent the air-pump and its cylinder; B, the main air-reservoirsupplied with air from the pump through tube B'; I3", a tube fromreservoir B to engineers valve C.

A is a simple safety-valve.

The engineers valve is a' short cylinder C', having openings in itssides. One end of tube B" sets in one of these openings, one end oftrain-pipe D in another, open air-pipe E in another, and pipes F, G, andHin the others. A cylindrical block I sets snugly in cylinder C' and isturned therein by stem J' and handle J". A hole or opening J is piercedlaterally through the block I from side to side, and by so turning blockI as to bring this opening opposite any pipe entering cylinder C' suchpipe is brought into connect-ion with any opposite pipe. Thus bybringing one end ot' opening J opposite opening of pipe II connection ismade from pipeH to pipe E. Then the block I is turned, as shown in Fig.2, the pipes are all closed against communication with each other. Largeswitch-pipe I-I leads :from train-pipe D to valve C, small pipe F fromthe same pipe to said valve, and small pipe Gr` leads from pipe B" tosaid Valve at a point opposite to the pipe F. The opposite pipes whichcan be connected by the opening .I are B" and D, G and F, and Il and E.

K is an air-pressure indicator with its tube K letting into tube D L, anair-regulator valve connected below with train tube D and from its sideby tube L', connected with the combined cylindrical auxiliarycar-reservoir and brake-cylinder M; M', the airstorage chamber in thelatter; 1I, a brakecylinder set in a horizontal line with cylinder M andconnected by pipes D' D" with train-pipe D.

N" isa valve set on the rcarend of pipe D to close it.

O is a piston-rod; P, a piston on one end of the same, located incylinder N, and Q is another piston on the other end of the same andlocated in cylinder M; O', a vertical rod connected with the bar O",which latter connects with the brake-shoes of the train orcar which isprovided with my apparatus. view in Fig. 1 shows the piston-headsthereon as far. forward as they will go, in which case the brakes areoft P'P' are openings in those heads N." M'

The

of cylinders M and N back of the respective pistons P Q to permit thefree ingress and egress of air as the pistons move either way.

L is a regulator-valve provided internally with a vertically-movablecylinder R.

L is the short pipe from valve L to trainpipe D.

S is a check-valve; S', a bar or cage over the same to restrain it fromjumping out of place; T, a hollowT chamber in the upper part of block R,indented, as at T', thus forming an annular space U around it. Thischamber is provided with openings U' around it', which communicate withthe space U.

V is a spiral spring provided with a regulating set-screw V XV is asmall pressure-valve to permit'the escape of eXtra pressure fromchamber.

In Fig. et, Y is an exhaust-valve located between train-pipe D andcylinder N and connected therewith, respectively, by the short branchpipes D' and D". d is a short open air tube or nozzle; b, an interiorvalve-cylinderwith seats at b' b' b' b'. c is a check-valve I closingthe opening h" of valve-cylinder h. It has seats c" c" and is restrainedfrom jump- ICO ing too far by cage or bar c. The vertical stein i ol`valve c is pierced by vertical openingy. (l is a spiral spring simplydesigned to support valvecylinder in place and return 5 it to its seatwhen the pressure below the valve is in excess or about equal to thepressure above it.

In Fig. 5, e is a small regulating-valve having a gudgeon e providedwith a long groove IO e along its surface, the outer end of which groovewhen the head is pushed torward connects with openingf in block f in themiddle of piston l". The piston O is hollow, its long opening receivingthe gudgeon e. o is a i thumb-screw setting through the shell of hollowpiston O and engagingin a short slotg in the gudgcon e. Then thisgudgeon is thrown out, this screw abuts against the rear end of thewalls surrounding slot g and restrains 2o the valve e from leaving itsplace. It also restrains it at a point which will bring groove e andopening f flush with each other, as shown in dotted lines, thuspermitting How of airlhrough this (then) continuous opening. :5 The bultor inner end of gudgeon e will also thus uncover open ai r-hole 7L. Thelatter opening is shown in Fig. 5 and inthe small (letalicross-sectional view therein on line X.

The operation is as follows: Ie will suppose that the air-pressure inchamber D is maintained at eighty pounds. The spring V is so set as tohold down valve-block R with a force of forty pounds, whereby when apressure of more than forty pounds is brought against it it will riseand close the port or opening of pipe L. The cheek-valve S opens at anypressure from beneath, but closes against any back-pressure. Asmentionedabove,alltheconnectionsbetweenpipes 4o in the engineers valveare made by turning block I to bring opening .I opposite the pipes to bejoined. It being desired to charge the train-pipe D, pipes B and D arejoined, thus throwing eighty pounds pressure through pipes D, D', and D,thus throwing the brake mechanism into the position shown in Fig. l. Thebrakes are now olf. This strong pressure of air operating through pipe Lraises valve S and entering chamber T passes 5o into outer annularchamber U and through pipe L to car-reservoir M. lVhen the pressure inchamber T exceeds forty pounds, the cylinder R will rise, as the springV is not strong enough to hold it down at a pressure exceeding fortypounds. Thus a pressure of about forty pounds is maintained in chamber).l in front of piston Q. Now when it is desired to apply thebrakesbloek I is turned so as to connect pipes Il and open air-pipeE, 6cwhereupon the compressed air in cylinder N and pipes D, D, and D rushesout, leaving only the normal atmospheric pressure of about fifteenpounds therein. The forty pounds pressure in chamber M will then actagainst piston Q and drive it back, thus throwing back the brake-pistonrod O and bars or rods O O, which will result in apwhole of the gratie.

plying the brakes which will be on ln going down long or heavy grades itbecomes a matter oi great importance to keep the 7o brakes applied forthe whole or nearly the In doing this some ot' the compressed air inchamber M will escape despite the packing (not shown) on piston Q. Theinstant the air is turned to the open air-pipe E and the high pressurein chamber T is relieved the cylinder R is driven down by spring V tothe position shown in Fig. 3 and the pipe L is opened again into chamberT; but the check-valveS then closes 8o to retain the forty poundspressure above it. New as some of this compressed air (forty pounds)will escape, as above described, an engineer can feed and sustain theforty pounds pressure by occasionally turning block I so as to connectpipes G and F and thus recharge the chamber M. Supposing the pressure inchamber l to have fallen to thirty-two pounds. In such case theengineer, guided by the indicator l{,sends a current of, 9o say, aboutthirty-eight pounds through pipes F and D. This pressure, striking thevalve S from beneath, will raise it so as to bring the pressure inchamber T, and consequently in chamber 3l', upto about thirty-eightpounds, 95 whereupon he can turn block I to open air again to keep thebrakes applied. IIe can repeat this action occasionally during thedescent ot the gradeand keep his brakes on. If the train-pi pe l) wereto be broken ora coupler-hose (not shown) between cars should be parted,it. would result in releasing the air at once from the brake-cylinder N,and the fortypounds pressure in chamber M would act at once to throw onor apply the brakes in both parted sections of the train.

There may be any number of openings I in those heads of cylinders M andN which are pierced by the piston-rod O, because it is desirable thatthe air should have free ingress and egress at those ends of thecylinders, so as not to interfere with the free movements of the pistonswhen acted upon by the press ures through pipes L or D.

As remarked above, when the full eighty- 115 pounds air-pressure is onthe brakes are off and the pistons l) and Q are in the positions shownin Fig. l. Now when the pressure in train-pipe D is turned to open airand thus escapes the air in cylinder N will act upon the top ofcheck-valve c, which serves as a cap to valve Z1, and force the lattervalve Z1 to open to air-tube a, and the then exhausted train-pipe D toopen air; butwhen the pressure in cylinder N' decreases to nearly the125 pressure below valve l) the spring d will raise the latter back toplace, and the forward movement of piston Q, above described, in drawingpiston l back by means of stem O will .force the remaining air incylinder N down through openingj in check-valve c and its pendent stemi. The pressure of air behind piston Q, not being then resisted by aheavy pressure on small regulating-valve c,

IOO

IIO

will force this valve forward, so as to connect groove c in steml e withopeningfin block j, thus also allowing air under pressure to escape fromcylinder N through opening 7L, which is thus uncovered. This gradualescaping of low-pressure air in cylinder N permits such air to act as acushion to gently check the action of the piston P when the train-pipe Dis turned to open air at about the time piston P should be checked. Thenthe full pressure is again turned on through train-pipe D, thehigh-pressure air will rush up through pipe D into valve Y, throughcheck-valve c, which it will force open, and through pipe D intocylinder N. So long as the high pressure is sustained through trainpipeD there will no air escape back through openings .I or h.

By exhausting the pressure gradually from train -pipe D that in cylinderN escapes through small hole j in valve c, the light spring d keepinglargevalvehagainstits seats h b b 11'; but a sudden and free escape orreduction of the pressure in pipe D results in large valve h beingforced down by the greater pressure above it, which at once escapesthrough tube a to the atmosphere or open air.- Opening 7L is onlyuncovered when valve e is opened, and the head of this valve is neverthrown clear of piston P, whereby a return heavy pressure will drive itto its seat. Icall the face of the piston toward the rear the backface-that is, the face on the side opposite to the piston-stein O.

It will be observed that the head ot valve e is so restrained by screw gas never to be thrown beyond the rear face of piston P, whereby a returnof heavy pressure into cylinder N will act on this head to drive it toits seat and close openings fand 7i.

What I claim as new is'- I. In an air-brake system, the combination ofmain air-reservoir B, engineers valve C, with its pipe connections,substantially as shown, combined car-reservoir and brake-cylinder M,provided with piston Q,brake-cylin der N, provided with pipe connectionD D", wit-h train-pipe D, pipe L from chamber M of the car-reservoir Mto train-pipe D, regulater-valve L, located on pipe L', whereby aboutthe saine pressure can be maintained in chamber M', and the saidchambercan be recharged from time to time while the brakes are on, thecontiguous ends of said cylinders M and N, which are pierced bypistonrod O, being open or provided with openings to permit the freeegress and ingress of air behind the pistons, substantially asdescribed.

2. In an air-brake system, the regulatorvalve L, located on pipe Lbetween the angiiliary car-reservoir and the train-pipe D, said valvebeing constructed with an outer cylinder or shell, innervertically-movable cylinder R, provided with an upper chamber T, thesidewalls of which are pierced with openings U', cylinder R being alsopierced vertically and centrally, the check-valve S, settlng vin theopening and its head resting on the edge of metal surrounding saidopening, spring V, graduated to bear with a desired pressure on the topwall of the chamber T, an annular space U being left between the sideWalls of chamber T and the outer shell of the valve L, said pipe Lletting into said annular chamber, all combined and operatingIsubstantiallyas and for thepurpose described.

In an air-brake system, the regulatingvalve e, with its stem or gudgeone in hollow piston-stemO, its head being located in the middle of pistonP and restrained by mechanism g g from being thrown too far forward,said gudgeon being provided with groove e and piston P being providedwith openingf, whereby when valve e is thrown forward groove e connectswit-h opening f and permits air to escape from behind the piston throughsaid groove, opening h in piston-stein O to permit the a-ir to escape tothe atmosphere or outer air, said last-named opening being so disposedas only to be uncovered when valve c is opened to aperture f, allcombined and operating' substantially as described.

ANDREV J. VISNER.

Witnesses:

GEORGE E. BUCKLEY, H. V. BUCKLEY.

